Method and apparatus for counting overlapped sheets during conveyance thereof

ABSTRACT

The invention is a method and apparatus for counting sheets of paper, cardboard or the like material which includes feeding successive sheets along a line of movement in overlapped condition, at a position along such line of movement and solely in accordance with the continued in-line movement of the fed sheets detecting successive overlaps and initiating a counting impulse responsive to each successive detected overlap.

United States Patent [72} Inventor Theo Brandt Dusseldorf. Germany [21]Appl. No. 774,430 [22] Filed Nov. 8, 1968 [45] Patented June 29,1971[73] Assignee Jagenberg-Werke A.G.

Dusseldorf, Germany [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COUNTING OVERLAPPEDSHEETS DURING CONVEYANCE THEREOF 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 235/98 [51] Int.Cl B611 1/16 [50} Field ofSearch 235/98,98.4, 98.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,544,860 7/1925 Reisbach235/98 X Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-StanleyA. Wal Attorney-Burgess, Dinklage & Sprung ABSTRACT: The invention is amethod and apparatus for counting sheets of paper, cardboard or the likematerial which includes feeding successive sheets along a line ofmovement in overlapped condition, at a position along such line ofmovement and solely in accordance with the continued in-line movement ofthe fed sheets detecting successive overlaps and initiating a countingimpulse responsive to each successive detected overlap.

PATENTED M29 191;

sum 1 BF 3 PATENIED m2 919m SHEET 2 BF 3 Fig; 6

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COUNTING OVERLAPPED SHEETS DURING CONVEYANCETHEREOF This invention relates to a method and means for countingmaterial which is being conveyed in overlapped fashion, such as sheetsor packages of sheets made of paper, cardboard or the like material.

In sheet forming and associating mechanisms that utilize transversecutters which operate at relatively high speed on an advancing web, theformed sheets after having been cut transversely generally advance orare fed in overlapped condition and are then stacked in a magazine orlayboy. The movement of the sheets in overlapped condition results in adeposit speed as will be required for perfectly depositing the sheetsand thus assure formation of stacks having absolutely straight sideedges.

One known arrangement of this type is exemplified in US. Pat. 2,266,972to Matthews dated Nov. 1 1, 1941 and entitled Sheet Feeding And StackingMethod And Machine." Nevertheless, difficulties arise in connection withthe counting of sheets which are being conveyed or transported in suchoverlapped condition. The danger of damaging or marking the sheetsprecludes a mechanical counting through means touching or engaging thesheets. Likewise, the counting of the sheets in dependence upon thecutting sequence is also precluded inasmuch as defective sheets whichare ejected in this type of machine must not be included in the count.If a counting device were arranged immediately after the ejection orsevering point and before the overlapping device, the result would be arelatively long distance of movement for the counted sheets within whichvarious disturbances may appear, thus making it necessary to removeindividual sheets. This would result in the counted number of sheets nolonger corresponding in number to those deposited on the stack.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a method and anapparatus for effecting the counting of sheetlike material, which istransported in overlapped fashion, such as sheets or sheet packages madeof paper, cardboard or the like material which avoids mechanicaltouching of the sheets to be counted.

Therefore it is a main object of this invention to provide a method ofand means for counting sheets or sheetlike material of paper, cardboardor the like material which includes feeding such sheet material inoverlapped condition along a line of movement, at a position along suchline of movement and merely in accordance with the continued inlinemovement detecting successive overlaps in the fed sheets and initiatinga counting impulse responsive to each detected overlap.

The invention has for a further object to provide a method of and meansfor counting sheets or sheetlike material of paper, cardboard or thelike material which includes feeding such sheet material in overlappedcondition along a line of movement, directing a stream of air againstoncoming overlapped sheets, creatinga differential pressure condition inan area on opposite sides of the leading edge of each overlapped sheet,successively detecting such differential pressure condi tion andinitiating a counting impulse in response to each detected differentialpressure condition.

It is a further object to provide a method of and apparatus for countingsheets or sheetlike material of paper, cardboard or the like materialincluding feeding sheets along a path or line of movement in overlappedcondition beneath a movable control for a counting mechanism, duringsuch feeding moving the successive overlapped sheets past an air jet tolift the leading edge of successive overlapped sheets so that the aircan escape beneath such lifted leading edge and not influence themovable control and continuing the feeding movement so that when suchleading edge has moved past the air jet the air from the jet impinges ontop of the passing overlapped sheet and is effective to blow against themovable control to move the same to cause a counting impulse to beinitiated for successive passing overlapped sheets.

In order to accomplish the latter object, it is proposed, through thisinvention, that the counting of advancing overlapped sheets be performedwith the aid of an air blast jet which is directed against the sheetpath or line of movement from above. As each one of the front edges ofthe sheets makes its passage, the air blast jet directed against thesheet half activates a counting device, whereby the effectiveness oftheair blast jet with respect to a member acting upon the countingdevice is influenced by each one of the front or leading edges of thesheets.

In order to carry out the method, one form of apparatus is used having ablast nozzle which is directed against the line of movement of and thusagainst the oncoming leading or front edges of the sheets, said blastnozzle having associated with it a member acting upon the countingdevice. The member acting upon the counting device is preferably a twoarmed swinging lever whereof one arm is arranged in the effective areaof the air jet or blast from the nozzle and the other arm is arranged inthe effective area of an impulse sender which is connected with thecounting device. Moreover, one arrangement is such that the lever armarranged in the effective area of an impulse sender, which is in theform ofa photoelectric cell, includes a reflector which enters into thefocus of the photoelectric cell as a result of being acted upon by theair blast jet, whereupon said photoelectric cell sends an impulse to thecounting device.

In another inventive embodiment, two electrical contacts are providedfor as impulse senders within the swinging area of the lever arm, saidcontacts being connected with the counting device and being touchedalternately by the lever arm. The release of an impulse to the countingdevice takes place in this embodiment only if both electrical contactsare touched successively by the lever arm.

As a further embodiment of the invention, the arrangement can also besuch that the blast nozzle has associated with it a device for measuringthe pressure differences arising during the passage of the frontal sheetedges through and past the air blast jet and for converting the sameinto electrical impulses, said device being itself connected with acounting device.

Further and more specific objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view illustrating a portion ofa sheet conveyor arrangement embodying a counting arrangement accordingto the invention FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational viewillustrating a form of the invention embodying a photoelectric cellmeans as an impulse sender for a counter,

FIG. 3 is a similar view illustrating another form of the inventionembodying electrical contacts as impulse senders for a counter,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views illustrating the mode ofoperation of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and illustrating a further inventiveembodiment.

As shown particularly in FIG. I, overlapped sheets 1 after having beenejected or fed from a cutter or other sheetprocessing machine, not shownin the drawings, are conveyed on conveyor belts or tape arrangements 2,3, 4, 5 and 6 to a deposit stack such as a magazine or layboy 7. A sheetcounting device is arranged between upper conveyor belts 2 and 5 whichcomprises essentially, as can be seen from FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, a pressureguide or hood 8, an air blast or jet nozzle device 9, a swingable lever10, a photoelectric cell means 11 and an electronic counting device 12of a known type. The lever 10 is rotatably mounted around an axis ofrotation provided by a shaft 13. In order to delimit the zone ofmovement of the swingable lever 10, the apparatus includes upper andlower stops I4 and I5, omitted from FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 and which stops aresecured or mounted on pressure guide or hood 8. The upper lever arm ofswingable lever 10 that cooperates with the photoelectric cell means 11is equipped with a reflector or mirror 16.

The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows: As can be seenparticularly well in FIG. 4, each successive frontal or leading edge Lof an overlapped sheet is lifted up by the air blast jet or streamissuing from nozzle 9 in the area between the sides 8 of pressure guideor hood 8 so that the air can escape between this sheet and the sheetthereunder. During this state, the swinging lever 10 is not acted uponby the air blast jet so that the reflector 16 remains outside of thefocus of photoelectric. cell means 11. As the sheetscontinue to advance,and as clearly seen in FIG. 5, the frontal or leading edge L leaves theeffective area of the air blast jet so that the air can not escapebetween two overlapped sheets and is directed to glow against the lowerarm of swingable lever 10. The result is that reflector 16 carried bythe upper arm of lever 10 is raised and enters into thefocus ofphotoelectric cell means 11 to activate the same so as to in turn sendan impulse to the electronic counting device 12, thereby adding one unitcount to the latter. This mode of operation adequately assures accuratecounting of the overlapped sheets since the swingable lever 10 is onlyacted upon by the air blast jet after one leading or frontal sheet edgeL has passed beneath the air blast jet. Moreover, this countingarrangement enables accurate counting of sheet packages in which thefrontal or leading sheet edges do not stack exactly evenly since theeffectiveness of the air blast jet directed against the swingable lever10 remains interrupted, thus preventing the reflector 16 from enteringinto the focus of photoelectric cell means 11, as long as the frontal orleading sheet edges remain in the effective area of the air blast jet.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the stops 14 and 15 are made upaselectrical contact devices 17 and 18 which are connected with theelectronic counting device 12. In this embodiment, the electricalcontact devices 17 and 18 embodying set and release circuiting, takeover the function of photoelectric cell means 11. Here the arrangementis such that an impulse is sent to the electronic counting device 12only when both electrical contacts 17 and 18 have been touchedsuccessively by the upper arm of swingable lever 10. This measureprevents the electronic counting device 12 from being acted upon if thelever 10 goes through undulating motions, so that defective counts areavoided.

Further modifying the inventive idea, FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment inwhich the air jet or blast nozzle 9 is connected with a device 19 whichmeasures the pressure differences arising during the passage of frontalor leading sheet edges through the path of the air blast jet. In thisembodiment, the blast nozzle 9, which is connected to an air compressornot shown in the drawing, is combined with a back pressure pipe 19. Thisback' pressure pipe 19 surrounds or encloses blast nozzle 9 in itsforward part and transmits the back pressure caused by the pressuredifferences to a transmitter 20. This transmitter 20 in a known mannerconverts the pneumatic signal into an electrical impulse with the aid ofan elastic diaphragm 21 and a contact 21. This electrical impulse isthen transmitted to the electronic counting device 12 as described inthe previous typical embodiments.

What I claim is: t

1. A method of counting sheet material such as of paper, cardboard orthe like material comprising feeding successive sheets along a line ofmovement in overlapped condition, at a position along such line ofmovement and solely in accordance with the continued inline movement ofthe fed sheets detecting successive overlaps by directing a jet of airagainst the oncoming overlapped sheets to lift the successive leadingedges thereof and initiating a counting impulse responsive to eachdetected overlap.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which said air jet is directedagainst the oncoming sheets from above and said counting impulse isinitiated in response to the leading edge of an overlapped sheet passingsaid air jet.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 in which said overlapped sheets passbeneath a movable control member for a counter in advance of said airjet, and moving said movable control member by the pressure of the airfrom said jet when responsive to the leading edge of an overlapped sheetpassing said air jet.

4. Apparatus for counting sheet material of paper, cardboard or the likematerial comprising a counting means, means for feeding successivesheets along a line of movement in overlapped condition, meanspositioned along the line of movement of the sheets for detectingsuccessive overlaps including an air jet nozzle means for directing ajet of air against the oncoming sheets to lift the successivelyadvancing leading edges of overlapped sheets, and means operable when aleading edge of a moving overlapped sheet passes said air jet to actuatesaid counting means for each detected overlap.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the means operable when aleading edge of a moving overlapped sheet moves past the air jetincludes a lever means mounted to swing about an axis extendingtransversely of and above the line of movement of the sheets.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said lever means is a doublearm lever, one of said arms being shaped to project into and be moved bythe air flowing from the air jet and impinging upon the upper surface ofan overlapped sheet after the leading edge thereof has moved past theair jet, and the movement of the other arm actuates the counting means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 and photoelectric cell means operablyrelated with said counting means, and reflecting means on said other armof said double arm lever means that enters into the focus of saidphotoelectric cell means when said one arm of said lever means is movedby the air from said air jet to cause said photoelectric cell means totransmit a counting impulse to said counting means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 and two electrical contact devicesoperably connected with said counting means for providing countingimpulses thereto, and the other arm of said lever means being disposedfor swinging movement between said contact devices and alternatelytouching the same in accordance with the movement of said lever means.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which a counting impulse istransmitted to said counting means only in response to successivetouching of both contact devices by said other arm of said lever means.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and means operably connected withsaid counting means and operably related with said air jet nozzle meansfor measuring the pressure differences arising during passage of thesuccessive leading edges of overlapped sheets past the air jet issuingfrom said nozzle means and for converting said measured pressuredifferences into electrical impulses for actuating said counting means.

1. A method of counting sheet material such as of paper, cardboard orthe like material comprising feeding successive sheets along a line ofmovement in overlapped condition, at a position along such line ofmovement and solely in accordance with the continued inline movement ofthe fed sheets detecting successive overlaps by directing a jet of airagainst the oncoming overlapped sheets to lift the successive leadingedges thereof and initiating a counting impulse responsive to eachdetected overlap.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 in which said airjet is directed against the oncoming sheets from above and said countingimpulse is initiated in response to the leading edge of an overlappedsheet passing said air jet.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 2 in whichsaid overlapped sheets pass beneath a movable control member for acounter in advance of said air jet, and moving said movable controlmember by the pressure of the air from said jet when responsive to theleading edge of an overlapped sheet passing said air jet.
 4. Apparatusfor counting sheet material of paper, cardboard or the like materialcomprising a counting means, means for feeding successive sheets along aline of movement in overlapped condition, means positioned along theline of movement of the sheets for detecting successive overlapsincluding an air jet nozzle means for directing a jet of air against theoncoming sheets to lift the successively advancing leading edges ofoverlapped sheets, and means operable when a leading edge of a movingoverlapped sheet passes said air jet to actuate said counting means foreach detected overlap.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which themeans operable when a leading edge of a moving overlapped sheet movespast the air jet includes a lever means mounted to swing about an axisextending transversely of and above the line of movement of the sheets.6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said lever means is a doublearm lever, one of said arms being shaped to project into and be moved bythe air flowing from the air jet and impinging upon the upper surface ofan overlapped sheet after the leading edge thereof has moved past theair jet, and the movement of the other arm actuates the counting means.7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 and photoelectric cell means operablyrelated with said counting means, and reflecting means on said other armof said double arm lever means that enters into the focus of saidphotoelectric cell means when said one arm of said lever means is movedby the air from said air jet to cause said photoelectric cell means totransmit a counting impulse to said counting means.
 8. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 6 and two electrical contact devices operably connectedwith said counting means for providing counting impulses thereto, andthe other arm of said lever means being disposed for swinging movementbetween said contact devices and alternately touching the same inaccordance with the movement of said lever means.
 9. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 8 in which a counting impulse is transmitted to saidcounting means only in response to successive touching of both contactdevices by said other arm of said lever means.
 10. Apparatus as claimedin claim 1 and means operably connected with said counting means andoperably related with said air jet nozzle means for measuring thepressure differences arising during passage of the successive leadingedges of overlapped sheets past the air jet issuing from said nozzlemeans and for converting said measured pressure differences intoelectrical impulses for actuating said counting means.